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What gets me about the patent system is that there seems to be no requirement for due diligence on the side of the patent holder. You'd think if BB cared about
by projektfu 9y ago
What gets me about the patent system is that there seems to be no requirement for due diligence on the side of the patent holder. You'd think if BB cared about these technologies, they'd have sent a letter to the companies years ago before they amassed millions of users. They could have put out an ad saying that other companies are using patent protected tech and so you should use BB to make sure your service isn't disrupted. Or they could be making money now licensing the tech. For example, WhatsApp sold for billions. It'd have a very different value if they had to pay a per user license fee, which BB could have asked for years ago. I think a forgotten patent should be considered abandoned.
- compsciphd 9y agoCompanies ignore it. speaking from experience with patents I created during my phd tenure and the univeristy's inabiity to licence them (even as the FANG companies build products around it and reference the patents in their own patents)
- kirillseva 9y agoWhat does N stand for? Netflix?
- nugi 9y agoSuing early would make them not use their tech... waiting until their tech is entrenched so you can seek damages and future licencing is the jam nowdays. Its a legal grey area, but seems to work out more often than not.
- projektfu 9y agoI understand the incentive, but if there is an obvious violation and you ignore it for years, without even a letter to the violator, you should probably not be allowed to decide to enforce it after that tech has become entrenched. It should be on the patent holder to explain why they didn't complain when the problem was small. Trademark owners can lose if they don't stand up early with a crew and desist.